ALIEN PREDATORS (DVD) (4 MOVIES ON 2 DOUBLE SIDE DISCS) DVD

The Day of the Triffids
Adapted from the novel by John Wyndham, this intelligent British monster movie begins with a meteor shower so intensely bright that it blinds the majority of the world's population, rendering them vulnerable to attack from hordes of carnivorous plants known as "Triffidus Celestus" grown from meteor-borne spores. As the plant-monsters continue to multiply and seek human prey, the remaining sighted people join forces to combat the veggie invaders. One such survivor, an American seaman (Howard Keel) whose eyes were bandaged during the meteorite impact, battles his way through the Triffid ranks. Meanwhile, a couple (Kieron Moore and Janette Scott) are trapped in a lighthouse. Good production values make this low-budget effort look more expensive than it probably was; the uncredited assistance of {$Freddie Francis -- who directed several scenes with a second unit -- also helps. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Little Shop of Horrors
Perhaps the greatest movie ever shot in two days, Little Shop of Horrors was originally conceived as a followup to Roger Corman's black comedy A Bucket of Blood (1959). Jonathan Haze plays Seymour Krelboin, a schlemiel's schlemiel who works at the Skid Row flower shop of Mr. Mushnick (Mel Welles). Experimenting in his spare time, Seymour develops a new plant species that he hopes will lead him to fame and fortune. Unfortunately, the mutated plant -- named Audrey Junior, in honor of Seymour's girlfriend Audrey (Jackie Joseph) -- subsists on blood and human flesh. It also talks, or rather, commands: "Feed Me! FEEEEED ME!" Before long, the luckless Seymour has fed his plant the bodies of a railroad detective, a sadistic dentist, and a flashy trollop. Meanwhile, Mr. Mushnik, who has stumbled onto Seymour's secret, has inadvertently offered up a burglar (played by Charles Griffith, who also wrote the script and supplied the plant's voice) as a midnight snack for the voracious, ever-growing Audrey Junior. (When the plant blooms, the faces of its various victims are reproduced in its flowers.) Ignored on its initial release, Little Shop of Horrors began building up a cult following via repeated TV exposure in the 1960s. By the mid-1970s, it had attained classic status, spawning a big-budget Broadway musical (and followup feature film) in the 1980s and a Saturday morning cartoon series in the 1990s. Enhancing the original Little Shop's reputation was the brief appearance by star-in-the-making Jack Nicholson as a masochistic dental patient (Nicholson is often incorrectly referred to as the star of the film, though in fact he barely receives billing). Much as we love Nicholson, our vote for the most memorable Little Shop cast member goes to the ubiquitous Dick Miller ("No thanks, I'll eat it here"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Graveyard Tramps
In this "guilty pleasure" outing by B-budget director Denis Sanders (Shock Treatment), William Smith plays an FBI man investigating reports of a coven of "bee-girls" -- women who have taken on the characteristics of bees, and who kill men upon making love. A cute device throughout the film allows us to see the action from a bee's-eye view. The script, by no less than Nicholas Meyer, pokes gentle fun at the conventions of the cheapo-horror genre without ever stooping to cheap parody. Invasion of the Bee Girls was also released as Graveyard Tramps. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Track of the Moonbeast
After being struck in the head by a small meteor, a normally amiable mineralogist becomes a foul tempered giant lizard god called the Moonbeast. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Cast Howard Keel as Bill Masen Kieron Moore as Tom Goodwin Janette Scott as Karen Goodwin Nicole Maurey as Christine Durrant Mervyn Johns as Mr. Coker Janina Faye as Susan Alison Leggatt as Mrs. Coker Ewan Roberts as Dr. Soames Colette Wilde as Nurse Jamieson Carole Ann Ford as Bettina Geoffrey Matthews as Luis de la Vega Gilgi Hauser as Teresa de la Vega Katya Douglas as Mary Victor Brooks as Poiret Arthur Gross as Thomas Gallagher as Burly Man Sydney Vivian as Ticket Agent Gary Hope as Pilot John Simpson as Blind man Jonathan Haze as Seymour Krelboin Jackie Joseph as Audrey Mel Welles as Gravis Mushnik Dick Miller as Fouch Myrtle Vail as Winifred Krelboin Laiola Wendorff as Mrs. Shiva Jack Nicholson as Wilbur Force William Smith as Agent Neil Agar Claudia Jennings as Andre Philippe as Aldo Ferrara Thomas Pittman as Harv Jack Perkins as

Crew Richard Ashe - Director Robert G. Orpin - Composer (Music Score) Frank Larrabee - Composer (Music Score) Rick Baker - Makeup Special Effects Joe Blasco - Makeup Special Effects Ralph T. Desiderio - Producer Charles Sinclair - Screenwriter Bill Finger - Screenwriter Richard Ashe - Director Robert G. Orpin - Composer (Music Score) Frank Larrabee - Composer (Music Score) Rick Baker - Makeup Special Effects Joe Blasco - Makeup Special Effects Ralph T. Desiderio - Producer Charles Sinclair - Screenwriter Bill Finger - Screenwriter Richard Ashe - Director Robert G. Orpin - Composer (Music Score) Frank Larrabee - Composer (Music Score) Rick Baker - Makeup Special Effects Joe Blasco - Makeup Special Effects Ralph T. Desiderio - Producer Charles Sinclair - Screenwriter Bill Finger - Screenwriter Richard Ashe - Director Robert G. Orpin - Composer (Music Score) Frank Larrabee - Composer (Music Score) Rick Baker - Makeup Special Effects Joe Blasco - Makeup Special Effects Ralph T. Desiderio - Producer Charles Sinclair - Screenwriter Bill Finger - Screenwriter

The Day of the Triffids
Although it takes entirely too many liberties with the excellent novel upon which it is based, The Day of the Triffids is generally an entertaining sci-fi romp. It has many of the classic (some might say clichéd) elements often associated with the genre -- an alien invasion, stalwart hero, rag-tag band of allies, and a race against time to save the entire planet. If Triffids doesn't offer many original variations on these elements, it still uses them to its advantage to create a Saturday afternoon-style adventure that is effective enough that most viewers will forgive it for its triteness (and for its slow pacing and episodic nature). The happy ending stretches credulity a bit far, and the triffids themselves are, it must be admitted, somewhat cheesy -- but that actually adds a bit to the fun, as does much of the standard-issue dialogue. And there are some very good moments, such as the doctor's revelation that he is now blind and a sequence in which a triffid attacks a car. Howard Keel makes a pretty good lead, using his best leading-man posturing and his authoritative voice to good effect. Janette Scott does well within the limitations of the role, and Mervyn Johns has some memorable moments. Triffids falls short of being a good sci-fi film, but it's quite entertaining. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

Little Shop of Horrors
Roger Corman is a man with a Midas touch -- that's the only way to explain Little Shop of Horrors, a 1960 ultra-low budget horror movie/detective film satire that yielded a hit off-Broadway musical and a multi-million-dollar film version more than 20 years later. Corman had carved a niche for himself on Hollywood's Poverty Row as a producer-director of low-budget horror movies, mostly in association with American-International Pictures, which also specialized in teen exploitation titles, of which Corman did a few as well (Teenage Caveman, etc.). By 1960, the cycle had run its course, and one of the products was Little Shop of Horrors, which satirized the teen horror exploitation film, as well as various other elements of popular culture. Jonathan Haze's Seymour Krelboin is a delightful satire of the kind of nebbishy hero that Jerry Lewis was making millions out of playing at the time, and the two cops hunting for the "skid row killer" were a dig at Jack Webb's then-popular police shows and movies, most notably Dragnet. Corman's secret was to play it all -- the comedy, the cop sequences, the sight gags -- even more deadpan than Webb's work, so that the jokes were in the past once people tried to figure out what they had just seen. This was a style of comedy later perfected by the makers of Airplane and Police Squad and its offshoot, The Naked Gun movies, but Little Shop of Horrors is where it started; the ethnic jokes alone are a foot deep, and they slide past so fast that one has to watch the movie more than once just to catch them. It was a style of comedy that no one had done for movies before, and it took the rest of Hollywood 20 years to catch up -- just about the time that kids who knew Little Shop of Horrors were starting to make movies themselves. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
 

Graveyard Tramps
Supposedly sexy sci-fi for the discriminating cinemaphile, Invasion of the Bee Girls has been credited with a knowing satirical bent solely because of the relatively distinguished minds behind its creation. Don't be fooled by the hype. This low-brow psychotronic classic is no smarter or dumber than a host of equally exploitative bottom dwellers. It is, however, an entertaining piece of trash that scores high with a good, solid cast, a creative concept and straightforward delivery of some utterly silly action. William Smith is at his square-jawed best as the two-fisted hero, Anitra Ford is all smarm and ice as the villainous queen bee and familiar character actor Cliff Osmond delivers a surprisingly subtle performance as the overworked local sheriff. Slumming in the sexploitation cesspool are screenwriter Nicholas Meyer (Time After Time, Fatal Attraction and a few Star Trek movies) and director Denis Saunders (respected for documentaries A Time Out of War, Soul to Soul and Czechoslovakia 1968); perfectly comfortable in the sleazy milieu is cinematographer Gary Graver, who shot footage for directors as diverse as Al Adamson and Orson Welles. While celebrity critics Siskel and Ebert were right to recommend Invasion of the Bee Girls as a "guilty pleasure," its cinematic worth isn't much higher than many films the duo dismissed outright. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
 

Track of the Moonbeast
(not reviewed)
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: Additional Features: Feature programs Interactive menus Scene access MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 4 DVD DVD Region Code: Content Length: 338 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- Day of the Triffids 1. Chapter 1 2. Chapter 2 3. Chapter 3 4. Chapter 4 5. Chapter 5 1. Chapter 6 2. Chapter 7 3. Chapter 8 Side #2 -- Little Shop of Horrors 1. Chapter 1 [11:06] 2. Chapter 2 [13:37] 3. Chapter 3 [11:12] 4. Chapter 4 [11:43] 5. Chapter 5 [12:26] 6. Chapter 6 [12:15] Side #3 -- Invasion of the Bee Girls 1. Chapter 1 [10:27] 2. Chapter 2 [13:18] 3. Chapter 3 [13:04] 4. Chapter 4 [14:48] 5. Chapter 5 [16:15] 6. Chapter 6 [18:26] Side #4 -- Track of the Moon Beast 1. Asteroid [11:53] 2. Lunar Meteorites [11:13] 3. Moon Rock [8:13] 4. Arizona Dragon [9:29] 5. Only Theories [9:16] 6. Synchronized Elements [8:57] 7. Second Opinion [11:09] 8. Sandia Crest [10:33]